


Love Amongst the Bubbles

by phdmama



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, Boston, Champagne, Doctor Harry, Doctor Louis, M/M, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-04
Updated: 2017-03-04
Packaged: 2018-09-28 06:41:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10077836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phdmama/pseuds/phdmama
Summary: This fic was inspired bythis news story(which I did see on Tumblr but I can't find the post). This is for the wonderfulafirethatcannotdieon the occasion of her birthday! You can say hi to heron Tumblrtoo!Basically, it's a little meet-cute fantasty I had!Happy Birthday! I'm SO glad I got to meet you!! :-D





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [afirethatcannotdie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afirethatcannotdie/gifts).



Standing on the Charles Street station platform, Louis groans and leans back, trying to ease the ache in his back.  He loves his job, he really does, and he even loves working the night shift in the ER, though it can be hard on his social life. It’s been a quiet night—quiet, that is, for an urban hospital like MGH. At 6:30am, the outbound platform is relatively empty, though the train headed into the city on the other side of the tracks already looks full, close to capacity. Louis rummages in his messenger bag for his earbuds and frowns when they weren’t there. Then he remembers, he’d been listening to music in bed last night, trying to drown out the sounds of his roommate and current hookup next door, and can perfectly picture the earbuds lying in the clutter on his bedside table. He sighs. Oh well, it’s not like he has a super-long ride, just out to Porter Square, and then the 10 minute walk to his apartment.

He smiles in relief at the sound of the train pulling up the rail out of the tunnel from Park Street. Even for a quiet night, he was on his feet for most of it, and he is ready to sit. The train pulls into the station, discharging a few passengers, and Louis nods to another ER doc as they pass by each other.

“Good night?” Allison asks as she steps onto the platform.

“Yeah, not bad. Oh,” Louis remembers, “Alex came on at midnight and his wife is making him give up sugar for Lent so he’s in a mood.”

Allison manages to grin and roll her eyes at the same time as she heads by him. “See you, Lou.”

As Louis steps onto the train, he hears a shout from the vicinity of the escalators. “Hold the door, please!”

He shrugs to himself, and holds the door firmly as a man comes vaulting off the escalator and pounds onto the platform. He leaps past Louis through the door onto the train and somehow manages to trip on the edge of the doorway.

Louis grabs the man’s arm to keep him from pitching headfirst into the opposite wall. “Steady there, mate,” he laughs and the guy grins back at him.

“Thanks, man. Long shift, I’m not at my best.”

Louis notes the scrubs, the tousled curls, the wide smile and green eyes staring back at him and stutters, “Uh, yeah, no problem.”

He’s seen this guy before. It’s hard not to notice him. There aren’t that many regulars at Charles St. headed outbound this time of day, and, well, he is seriously cute and hot as fuck besides. Louis flushes as he remembers a few heated fantasies inspired by this guy in a tank top last summer. He belatedly realizes that he is still holding the man’s arm and lets go with a smile. “You gotta be careful in the urban jungle.”

They make their way to the middle of the car, and Louis drops into the seat with a sigh. Even the hard, unyielding plastic feels good after a 12 hour shift. The car is oddly empty—other than this guy sitting a few seats down from him, there is an older man who looks homeless asleep in the corner, and on the other side of the doorway from them is a lady, deep into her phone.

“You at MGH?” He hears himself say. What? Louis is an avowed Bostonian and Bostonians don’t talk to strangers on the T.

“Huh?” The guy turns to him in surprise.

“Just...the scrubs, you at MGH?”

The guy’s eyes flick over Louis, noting, Louis is sure, the matching scrubs he’s wearing. “Yeah, NICU doc, you?”

“ER doc,” Louis replies.

The train starts moving, pulling out of the station and heading down the rails where it will plunge back underground for the rest of the ride.

“ER, huh. Adrenaline junkie, I see.” Louis frowns at the guy in mock-offense and he tosses a wink in return. Oh. OH.

“Well, you know what they say about ER docs, right?” Louis asks.

The guy quirks an eyebrow which is RIDICULOUSLY hot and says, “What do they say?”

“Our favorite hallucinogen is exhaustion.”

The guy barks out a laugh that’s far too loud for the lame joke and claps a hand over his mouth, grin peeking out around the edges. All of a sudden, all Louis wants to do is keep making this guy smile.

As they’re approaching the Kendall/MIT station, however, two things happen. First, the train shudders to a halt in the tunnel just outside the station, and two, something hard clunks against Louis’s ankle.

“Ow, fuck,” he says, reaching down first to rub his ankle, and then to explore what the object is that’s injured him.

The other guy looks startled at Louis’s outburst, and then even more confused as Louis reaches down under the seat and emerges with a...an unopened bottle of champagne.

“What?” he just says, “Where did that come from?”

Louis indicates the rear of the subway car with a shrug and examines the bottle. As he’d noted, it’s definitely unopened, foil over the cork intact. And it’s…

“Whoa,” he says, raising his eyebrows and giving an impressed whistle, “This shit is *nice*.” He’s holding in his hand a bottle of Dom Perignon.

Babydoc, as Louis is now calling the other guy in his head, says, “You into wines?”

Louis laughs, shakes his head. “Nah, I’m definitely a beer drinker myself, but my buddy Liam is getting married next month and his fiance is obsessed with wine, he’s in the business, but he wanted Liam to chose the champagne for the toast, so that’s all Li’s been talking about for ages.”

Louis notes the small frown that crosses Babydoc’s face and feels his heart sink a bit. Is he reacting to the male pronouns? His worry is assuaged with the guy’s next words though.

“Liam Payne? Marrying Zayn Malik, wine importer and greek god look-alike?”

Louis stares at him. “Yes,” he says slowly.

The man lets out his ridiculously laugh again, “Z and I have been friends since preschool, we grew up together!” He slides down the row of seats to sit next to Louis and holds out his hand, “I’m Harry.”

Louis laughs, shaking his hand. What are the odds? “I’m Louis.”

They’re interrupted by an announcement over the train’s PA system. “Due to a disabled train in Kendall Station, we will be delayed here for approximately 10 minutes. The MBTA apologizes for the inconvenience.”

He eyes the bottle again and inspiration strikes.

“Well, Harry,” he says, and watches Harry’s eyes flick down to his mouth and back up to his eyes as he speaks. “It seems to me that we should probably crack this baby open and drink a toast to our friends’ health. What do you say?”

Harry laughs, “Louis, I thought you’d never ask.”

And so they do. Louis opens the bottle, laughing as it sprays them both a bit, and offers Harry the first sip, trying not to stare at the sight of his sinfully plump lips closing around the head of the bottle. Harry closes his eyes as he rolls the wine around on his tongue and swallows, then licks his lips and hands the bottle back to Louis. “Fuck, that’s good,” he says, almost a groan of delight, and Louis feels his dick start to perk up in his scrubs. Uh oh. This could get...awkward.

He takes a sip himself, lets the flavors explode over his tongue, vanilla, honey, something like almonds maybe? He gives Harry a mournful look as he swallows. “How the fuck am I going back to Freixenet after this?”

Harry accepts the bottle Louis hands him with a sad nod, “I know, it’s going to be hard for you, very difficult. Are you going to be okay?” He drinks again, and Louis gets a bit lost watching the line of his throat as he swallows.

Ten minutes turns to twenty, and then to an hour, and the bottle is almost empty. Louis’s head is fuzzy from the champagne and from Harry, who’s now sitting pressed up against him, his arm slung companionably around Louis’s shoulders as they giggle over...something, Louis’s not even sure what.

Louis’s pretty sure that he’s not going to recover from this train ride any time soon. Harry is...well, Harry is a lot. He’s lovely to look at of course, that almost goes without saying. He’s also funny, demonstrating not only a silly sense of humor, but a wry wit as well that has Louis hardening up in his scrubs. What can he say, he really likes a smart man. They’ve talked about work, and Harry’s obvious concern for the tiny patients under his care makes Louis’s heart melt a bit.

“It’s different,” he muses muzzily as he takes one last swallow and hands the bottle to Harry to finish off. “The way you work and I work, even though we’re both doctors, Harry. Can you believe it?” He loses his train of thought as Harry tilts his head back to drain the last of the champagne from the bottle and Louis’s throat goes dry.

Harry sets the bottle down on the empty seat next to him and gives it an affectionate pat. “Good champagne,” he murmurs and turns his head to Louis, jumping a bit to find Louis’s face right there in front of him. “What do you mean, Louis?”

All of sudden, the energy between them shifts from light sparks to something wilder. Harry’s eyes widen and Louis can see his pupils dilate right then and there. He can feel the electricity of Harry’s skin, and wonders how much it might hurt to touch him, pictures the lightning arcing from Harry’s cheek to his hand if he were to reach up right now, skim his fingertips along Harry’s jaw, maybe run a thumb over his lips.

They stare at each other and then Harry breathes, “Do it. Do it, Lou, whatever it is that you’re thinking, just...do it.”

So Louis does, exactly as he’s just imagined. He reaches up, runs the back of his knuckles along Harry’s jaw, smiling a bit at the soft stubble he finds there. He strokes over Harry’s chin, and up around the other side. He cups Harry’s face, and then draws his thumb over Harry’s lips which part in breathless anticipation under his light touch.

Louis takes a moment, searches Harry’s eyes, because this feels. Well, it feels big. It feels like if he leans in, closes the distance between them, takes his first taste of Harry, there will be no going back. The world will never be the same.

And then, Harry smiles, just a bit. Just enough to flash a bit of dimple, crinkle his eyes. And he nods. Just once. But that’s all Louis needs.

“Harry,” he whispers. For the rest of his life, he will never be able to remember who moved first, who bridged the gap. All he knows now is that this is it, this is the moment.

When Harry’s mouth lands on his, the kiss is gentle at first. He tastes of champagne and raspberries and city air. He feels like sitting with friends in front of a wood fire on a cold winter night, warm, comforting. And then, sparks flare and the flames become a bonfire, heat raging over Louis’s skin as he sinks in, mouth opening as the kiss deepens. Louis feels Harry’s arms tighten around him and groans into the embrace, and all he can think is, _this is it. Here we go._

As the kiss threatens to blaze out of control, Louis become aware of a voice saying “Excuse me, gentlemen. EXCUSE ME!”

He pulls away, noting with a small flush of pride that Harry looks dazed, and turns to see a woman in an MBTA uniform watching them with an expression that is somewhere between amused and exasperated.

She shakes her head. “We’re walking everyone down the tracks to the station, and we’ll be bussing you the rest of the way. C’mon, boys, time to go.” As she turns to lead them out the door that’s been pried open, she says over her shoulder, “You all know that I could fine you both for that open container, right?”

Louis stands on shaky legs and holds out a hand to Harry, pulling him to his feet as well. They gather their things, following the worker to head back up to the street.

Louis starts to feel awkward but then Harry squeezes his fingers as he lets go, jumping down onto the tracks. The worker ahead is yelling, “Mind the third rail, boys, you don’t need any more sparks today,” and Harry grins at her wild cackle, shaking his head.

They make their way into the station and are directed to where the busses will pick them up on Main Street. As they stand together, Harry coughs and says, “Well, that was. Not how I was expecting this commute to go.”

Louis nods, wondering where his courage has fled to. “Where do you get off, Harry?”

Harry’s eyes widen in surprise and Louis blushes as he realizes how his words might be interpreted. “What station, Harold, Jesus.”

Harry smirks, “Just Harry is fine, you don’t have to call me Jesus,” and laughs when Louis rolls his eyes and groans. “Um, I live outside of Porter, you?”

“Same,” Louis stares at Harry, and takes a deep breath. “Harry, I’d really love to see you again. Like, soon. I’d like to take you out.”

Harry’s face splits open in a beaming grin. “How about now?”

Louis says, a bit confused, “What?”

“Well,” Harry says, “I’m off now, you’re off now, and I usually eat before going to bed. So, do you want to have breakfast with me?”

They climb onto the bus and head towards the back. It’s packed now with morning commuters, and Louis finds himself jammed in next to Harry, who winds an arm around him. “Um, yeah. Yeah, I can do that. That sounds good.”

They smile at each other, and for one brief moment, the world around them just retreats as Louis looks up at Harry.

The bus leaves Harvard Square, and rattles up Mass Ave as they stand quietly in the crowd, pressed together. They reach Porter Square, and Louis begins to move down the aisle to the door. He halts, turns, and extends his hand to Harry.

“C’mon, Harry,” he says, and Harry reaches back, curling his fingers around Louis’s with a grin.

“Let’s go.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please, as always, these are works of fiction, meant to entertain. Please don’t break the 4th wall or post anywhere else!
> 
> Feel free to come say come say hi on Tumblr! If you enjoyed this, the rest of my stuff can be found here!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, and if you feel so inspired, feel free to leave a kudos or a comment, they all make my day brighter!
> 
> Feel free [to reblog the post on Tumblr! ](http://phd-mama.tumblr.com/post/157982976173/happy-birthday-to-my-fellow-bostonian)Thank you!


End file.
